Apparatus for handling material



April 17, 1934. H. B. WALKER ET AL I APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MATERIAL Filed March 50, 1933 INVENTORS Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNITE STATES PATET GFFICE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MATERIAL Henry B. Walker and Edgar A. Thumlert, Marion, Ohio, assignors to The Fairfield Engineering Company, Marion, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Our invention relates toa method and apparatus for handling material and, in particular, to the distribution of material received through a comparatively narrow inlet, uniformly over a 5 comparatively wide outlet, without segregation of the diiierent sizes of material.

Non-segregating chutes are known in the art of material handling but the types or" such chutes which have been utilized in the past are objectionable for several reasons. It has been proposed to provide a supporting chute having a fiat bottom with a shaped plate resting on the bottom designed to insure uniform flow. It has also been suggested to use adjustable plates of triangular outline disposed at an angle to the bottom plate of a chute. Another expedient which has been resorted to is the use of a curved apron or bottom plate. All these types of construction are objectionable for the reason that they are quite costly and the results achieved therewith in actual operation have left a good bit to be desired.

We have invented a chute efiective for discharging material in a fairly wide stream without the objectionable segregation of material of dif- 5 ferent sizes. In accordance with our invention, we provide a chute having a flat bottom tapering from the discharge end toward the receiving end. The cross section of the chute is substantially rectangular, the side walls and cover being formed of suitable plates. A plurality of vanes or baf- Iles are disposed in lines parallel to the sides of the chute and spaced therefrom. These vanes or baflles are disposed so that material initially supplied to the chute will be deflected toward the sides thereof to build up a store of material at each side of the bottom plate. As the stores of material at the sides of the bottom plate build up, they commence to discharge material through the spaces between baiiies. Material also flows 0 directly from the stores at the sides of the chute to the discharge outlet.

The novel method of our invention thus comprises maintaining stores of material which diverge from a common point of supply, and tapping small streams of material from such stores at points uniformly along the projection of the diverging streams. In this way, the objectionable segregation of fines from the larger pieces of material, which is characteristic of the ordinary fiat 50 bottomed chute, is entirely avoided and the mate- 55 tion, reference is made to the accompanying drawing illustrating a present preferred embodiment. In the drawing: a

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the chute asit will be placed in operation; and- Figure 2 is a sectional view substantially along the line II-Il' of Figure 1. 1

Referring in detail to the drawing, a chute comprises a bottom plate 11, side plates 12 and 13, and a cover plate 14. An inlet 15 is disposed at the upper end of the chute. As is clearly shown in Figure 2, the width of the chute increases toward the lower end where a discharge spout 16 is formed between the lower edge of the bottom plate 11 and a nose plate 17. As will be apparent from What has already been said, it is the function of the chute to receive material, such as coal, from a comparatively narrow, compact stream, such as that flowing through a pipe 18, and deliver it in a wide, thin stream to a device such as a stoker hopper 19.

Stream dividing vanes or baffles 20 are disposed adjacent the inlet 15 perpendicular to the bottom of the chute and at a slight angle to the side walls thereof. A plurality of diverting baifles or vanes 21 are similarly secured in the chute, spaced apart along lines substantially parallel to the side walls. The baffles 21 are spaced uniformly along the projection of the line on which they are placed, as well as along the center line of the chute bottom. Guide vanes or baffles 22 are disposed adjacent the diverting vanes but are mounted in planes perpendicular to the lower edge of the chute bottom. The vanes 20, 21 and 22 may conveniently be installed by welding them to the bottom and cover of the chute. It will be observed that the lower edge of each of the vanes 21 substantially overlies the upper edge of the similar vane next therebelow.

When material, such as coal, is delivered through the pipe 18 to the inlet 15, it first strikes the dividing vanes 20 which separate the incoming stream 23 into two divergent streams 24, 25 which, because of the relative positions of the vanes 21, closely parallel the side walls of the chute. In other words, the material slides off the dividing vanes 20 and strikes the vane 21 therebelow and is thereby shifted laterally to engage the second vane 21 as it falls down the chute. The initial charge of material is thus divided into the two divergent streams aforementioned. Until the divergent streams 24, 25 are built up to a substantial height, little or no material passes between adjacent sets of baiiles to the central portion 26 of the chute bottom. As the height of the material in the divergent streams builds up successively, as indicated by the dotted lines 2'7, it will be apparent that small"- er streams of material 27 will branch off from the main divergent streams 24 and 25 and flow 5 straight down the chute bottom along the lines 28. As the divergent streams of material build up substantially to the top of the chute, the smaller divergent streams flow down over the bottom uniformly across the width thereof. Some slight movement of material also takes place along thelines 29 directly from the divergent streams 24 and through the discharge opening 16. As the material flows from the divergent streams into the branching streams, the former are renewed. by the continuedsupply of material thereto through the pipe18. I I

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the method consists chiefly in the provision of one or more streams of material at an angle to. the line of discharge, and tapping material from said stream at points uniformly spaced along the projection thereof upon the discharge line. When the chute is applied to the handling of coal for stokers, the movement of the material is quite slow but results in the productionof a wide, thin stream of material which is not characterized by objectionable segregation. In other .words, the narrow, compact stream supplied through the pipe 18 is spread or scattered without such segregation as usually accompanies the distribution of a narrow stream over a considerable width. The guide vanes 22 fulfill an important function in directing the branching ,streams straight down the chute bottom. Without these vanes, there is a tendency for the material to follow the line of the vanes 21 1 Experience with this chute in actual practice shows that it produces a wide stream of ma- :terial, all portions of which aremade up of substantially the same percentages of fines and eoarsermaterial as is the incomingstream, The problem, of segregation resulting in the discharge of a stream which is not uniform across its en-. {tire width, is thus entirely overcome. The ma-- t'erial from the streams branching from the main divergent streams 24 and 25 covers the entire face of the bottom plate 11 and flows straight down throughout its length in a solid sheet, without separation between the adjacent streams. "This prevents side roll of the material after passing through the diverting baflles and segregation oi different sizes of material is thus avoided. The material falling through the upper opening be- Atween the diverting baiiles is guided by the vane 22 in a straight path, as already explained, until it meets the stream flowing through the next opening below. The stream is likewise guided on a straight path and a uniform straight-line flow across the entire width of the chute bottom is thus assured.

Although we have illustrated and described ,tom plate, side walls for the chute, diverting -,lines substantially parallel to said side walls, each bafiie having a vane at a slight angle to the adjacent side WalLfand' a vane substantially parallel to the length of the chute. Q0

2. A material handling chute comprising a bottom plate diverging from its upper to its lower end, and a plurality of diverting baffles spaced, apart along a line at an angle to the lower end of the plate, and disposed substantially perpendicular to the bottom plate, each bafile having a guide vane parallel to the length of the chute.

3. A material handling chute comprising a bottomplate diverging from its upper to its lower end, and a plurality of diverting bafiles disposed 100.5 in a line at an angle to the lower end of the plate and spaced apart, and guiding baffles associated with said diverting bafiies, said guiding bafiies be ing substantially parallel to; the length of the} chute for directing streams of material flowing between said bafiies in lines substantially perpen dicular to the lower edge of the plate.

l. A material distributing chute comprising a fiat bottom plate diverging from its upper to its. 2 lower end, andmeans disposed on said plate for directing'material supplied thereto laterally of the plate, said means being spaced apart and having guide vanes substantially parallel tothe length of the chute, whereby branching streams M uniformly cover the entire surface and flow down the length of the plate perpendicularly to the lower edge thereof. I

5, In a distributing chute, a diverging flatbotbaffles mounted on said bottom plate in lines substantially parallel to the sidewalls, and guiding baflles parallel to the length of the chute associated with each of said diverting baflles.

6. In a discharge chute, a bottom plate diverg- M ing from its upper end to its lower end, a relai tively low perimeter inlet at the upper end of the chute, a relatively large perimeter outlet atv the, lower end of the chute, and means on said bottom -plate for creating a plurality of parallel streams of materialflowing downwardly of the chute, including diverting bailles at, an angle to, the length of the chute, and guiding baffles substantially parallel to the chute length;

HENRY B. WALKER; V EDGAR A. THUMLERT. 

